Decisive battles in South America

South American Zone of the World Cup qualifiers have never been very interesting as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay would always qualify for the final tournament, while two or three other side used to fought for one remaining place. This is so not the case this term as no less than six teams are fighting for two plus one qualifying berths with just two rounds to go. Let us remind you that first four teams (Brazil and Paraguay have already qualified) will take part at next year’s World Cup, whereas the fifth-placed team enter the playoff with fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF Zone.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile have surprised everyone as they are firmly holding on to the third place and are four points clear of fourth-placed Ecuador. The Argentine coach is already hailed as the best coach in Chile’s history and he should have no problems guiding his side to South Africa as La Roja are set to play Columbia away and Ecuador at home

Next up are Ecuador with 23 points and they are currently occupying the last direct qualifying place. They, nevertheless, have two very difficult games, at home against Uruguay and away at Chile and will have to play extremely well in order to keep hold of the good position in the rankings.

Argentina, the biggest disappointment of this qualifying campaign, are in fifth place with 22 points and they are in danger of missing out on the first World Cup after exactly 40 years. Diego Armando Maradona are obviously the one to blame but he still has the chance to make things right by beating Peru at home and getting at least one point from Uruguay in the final match of the campaign.

Uruguay are sitting in 6th place with 21 points and they have the most difficult task out of all the teams involved in this extremely interesting race. Oscar Taborda’s men first travel to Quito, where they will play Ecuador (Ecuador-Uruguay odds) at high altitude before hosting Argentina in what should be one of the most intense duels in the history of football in the two countries. Rivalry between Uruguay and Argentina goes a long way and it is about to get a new chapter next Wednesday.

Venezuela are tied on points with Uruguay and if this were some other qualifying zone, they would be able to count on all six points from two remaining games. Venezuela will play Paraguay at home and Brazil away, the two sides that have already booked their ticket to South Africa, but I really doubt they will be able to win either of the games. It is simply not in the nature of these teams to field second string sides in competitive games and that is why Venezuela don’t stand any chance in my opinion.

The last team within a chance of qualifying for the World Cup are Columbia with 20 points. Columbia host Chile before playing Paraguay away but they need to win both games in order to have a realistic chance of achieving a top 5 finish.

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